Good Times in Charlotte

Enough said. End of post.

Just kidding! I spent this past weekend in Charlotte, NC for one of my best friend's bridal shower and bachelorette party. Ashley, the bride-to-be, is in the white dress. Obvious, I know! I stayed with my other best friend, Lindsay and her boyfriend, Andy. They just moved to Charlotte recently and bought a new home. It's so beautiful and I was very glad I got to stay there. On Friday night, Lins and Andy made dinner...which was delicious...and we sat outside, drank wine and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Then, Lins and I spent the rest of the evening getting Ash's shower gifts wrapped and ready as well as all of the bachelorette party goodies. Saturday was a long day. We had to be at the shower by 11 a.m. , which Ashley's sister, Meredith, threw at her beautiful home. She did such a great job on the shower. It was a bed and breakfast theme...so we had brunch and we were all treated to slippers at the front door. Very cute! Check out the fun cake and a pic of me, Lins and Ashley in our slippers...

Once that was over, we went back to Lindsay's to relax a little before packing up to head into Uptown to the hotel for the night. We got there around 4 and started decorating and getting ready for all the girls to arrive. Even though we thought we had plenty of time, we ended up being rushed and we were both terribly frustrated with our hair... blah blah blah. Back to the fun stuff. All the girls arrived around 7...we had some wine, watched Ashley open all of her goodies and then we went across the street for dinner at Cosmo's Cafe (delish!). Here was her basket of goodies that Lins and I put together for her:

We had some goodies for all the girls too. Shot glass necklaces (thanks to Mike for helping me make them) and these masks (see below)...I have a few words for you about them: pack of 6, Party City, $2.99. Get them for your next girls night out...they were a definite hit. Yes, we even wore them to dinner. I was tempted to wear mine on my flight back to Tampa... maybe that would have given people a glimpse into why I was so tired and looked like a bum... anyways, here are me and Lins modeling ours.

After dinner, we started at a place called Forum, then moved to Whisky River where we all decided to do a little bull riding (interesting? yes, to say the least!), then lastly we hit up Buckhead Saloon where only a few of us were left standing. The rest found their way outside where they removed their shoes and waited patiently for the last remaining dancing fools to be 'over it' and come outside so we could go to bed.....I don't think so!...so we could go to Fuel for pizza. Now, that's the way to end a good night out.

Alright, alright...back to the bull riding. I know that's what you really want to hear about. Well, that was chaos at its absolute finest. The bull handler (a.k.a. the guy that turns it on/off, makes it go faster, throws you off, etc) let 3 of us get on the bull at the same time. Meanwhile, he let all of our other girls get up and jump on the mats like it was a trampoline. Madness, I tell you. Then, he let each of take our turn, as many times as we wanted. We didn't mind but I think the other people in line probably did. Oh well...not our fault! Here is a tutorial in bull riding:

1. Let me show you how it's done. Hop on! By yourself or in a group... Yes, in your dresses ... just do it in a ladylike manner, ok?

2. Now hold on tight and throw one arm in the air like you know what you are doing.

3. Tell that bull handler to make it go faster...then try not to regret what you just said!

4. If you listened to me and made the move suggested in #3, then the next step is bound to be getting thrown off of the nice bull....at which point, you laugh hysterically as you fly off... followed by standing up gracefully and doing a superstar pose/dance to show that bull just who's the boss.
5. Walk away with some awesome memories!